Make Way for Ducklings
by Jack E. Peace
Summary: Chloe, Aubrey and a flock of ducklings. (Unapologetically fluffy.)


**Disclaimer: **Not mine. Title comes from the book by the same name and was selected by escape-fic

**A/N: **So basically...this story is nothing but fluff. Pure, undiluted fluff with absolutely no point to it whatsoever except that there are cute ducklings. The idea for the story and most of the scenes within the story are courtesy of escape-fic. I never would have been able to write this without her. Also I know very little about ducklings so if there are errors it's because I know very little about ducklings. And apparently don't know how to google. So enjoy (hopefully!)

**"Make Way for Ducklings" **

It's a question that most people ask on reflex, without thinking, like wishing a clerk a good day or telling a near-perfect stranger that you are "fine, thanks" even though you're having a horrible day. But whenever Aubrey Posen asked her girlfriend how her day was, she genuinely cared about the answer. And not just because she loved Chloe, which, of course, she did, but also because hearing about the shenanigans that Chloe's second-graders got into everyday usually brightened up Aubrey's own day. Working for one of the city's top accounting firms isn't a bad gig, but it's rarely interesting. Chloe always brightens up her day and her stories always make her smile.

Chloe's been teaching at Parkside Elementary for three years and has hopped from kindergarten to fifth grade and finally to second and Aubrey has to say that she's enjoyed these stories the most. The fifth graders were too sassy, the kindergarteners were too whiny but the second graders are the right amount funny and cute and Aubrey knows all about their different stories and struggles without having met a single one of them in person. But she knows that Ben won't drink milk from the cardboard cartons unless Chloe is the one who opens it and the Emily has been trying to teach herself to juggle (even in the middle of math class) and Beth-Ann sells animal-shaped erasers to the students for twenty-five cents a piece, which, according to Chloe is "quite the mark-up."

So, as soon as she gets home from work, Aubrey kisses Chloe and asks her how her day was, eager for whatever story her girlfriend has to share. She's been in meetings all day so she definitely needs the pick me up.

"It was great!" Chloe beams at her, tilting her head up for another kiss. "We're going to hatch ducks in our classroom and raise them."

Aubrey arches an eyebrow. "Really?" Chloe nods. "That sounds like a lot of work. And having a mom duck and all those ducklings…"

"We're not going to have the mom. We're getting the eggs from a farm outside of town and they're lending us the incubation equipment and everything." Chloe is practically humming with excitement and Aubrey loves to see her girlfriend like this. "It's going to be so exciting! I'm going to make the kids keep journals and we're going to learn all about animal life cycles and make predictions and graphs and it's going to be so great! And it's extra perfect because you know our mascot is a duck, so it totally makes sense."

Aubrey smiles and rolls her eyes. "Teacher of the year." She assures her girlfriend. "That sounds like a really great project, Chlo. I'm sure the kids are going to love it."

Over the next few weeks, Aubrey hears about the duck project sporadically. Stories about the incubation period and the journaling get mixed in with stories about how Ivy glued baseball cards to Samuel and Tyler threw Clementine's shoes into a tree. Aubrey doesn't forget about the ducks necessarily, they're just never on the forefront of her mind.

Until one afternoon when Aubrey is working at home and Chloe comes flying through the front door and doesn't even stop for a welcome home kiss before announcing, "The eggs hatched today Bree!"

Aubrey looks up from her files and arches an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"The eggs! The duck eggs!" Chloe claps her hands together and bounces around on the balls of her feet. "They all hatched today. I was in the middle of teaching the kids about nouns and all the sudden they started hatching. It was so exciting. The kids were so excited!"

Aubrey smirks. "The kids were excited?" She questions, arching her eyebrow.

"There are seven of them." Chloe continues on, too excited to bother with Aubrey's remark. "We're going to have a class vote on their names. But, of course, I get to name one since I'm the teacher." She seems very proud of this fact.

"That's great, Chlo." Aubrey tells her. "I can't wait to hear all about it." Chloe's enthusiasm is as infectious as always and its moments like these that make Aubrey love her even more, which she never thinks is possible until it actually happens. She pulls Chloe to her and kisses her and talk about the ducklings is halted for a while.

Daily updates about the ducks are mixed in with Chloe's other anecdotes for the next two weeks and Aubrey loves to hear her talk about this project because of how passionate Chloe is. It gives her a look at the teacher that her girlfriend is and it's easy to imagine her in front of twenty-five second graders leading them through lessons about verbs and the life cycle of ducks and fractions with the same enthusiasm that she has for everything. Aubrey loves the stories because it lets her see who Chloe is for the nine hours that they aren't together every day; it gives her a peek into the part of her life that she doesn't share with her girlfriend.

But, for all the stories about the ducks and how much fun they are to have in the classroom, Aubrey really doesn't put two and two together. She doesn't make the connection between the upcoming spring break week and the ducklings in the classroom. Until, of course, the afternoon that she comes home to find a plastic tub full of ducks sitting in her living room.

Aubrey puts down her purse and raises her eyebrows. "Um….Chloe…." She calls because her girlfriend is currently no where in sight. She looks at the tub full of ducks, who look back at her, flapping their stubby wings and cheeping.

Chloe comes hurrying out of the bedroom, a grin on her face. A grin that Aubrey recognizes. A grin that says _okay, don't be mad_. "Hi baby." She greets cheerfully. "How was your day?"

She goes to kiss Aubrey but Aubrey gives her the cheek, frowning. "Why are there ducks in our living room?" She looks at Chloe expectantly.

Chloe keeps that grin on her face. "Well…these are the ducks we've been raising in my classroom."

Aubrey looks at Chloe expectantly. "And…." Chloe just smiles at her. "Why aren't they in your classroom?"

"It's spring break, Bree." Chloe reminds her. "They can't just stay there for over a week by themselves. That would be nine days of them all alone!" She gives Aubrey the puppy-dog eyes. "They can't be alone that long."

While Aubrey sees the logic in this, it doesn't mean that she's happy about it. "And they're here because…?"

"They're Miss Beale's class pets….and I'm Miss Beale…" Chloe says, hoping that this explanation will be enough to convince Aubrey that she really had no other choice. But Aubrey still looks at her doubtfully. "It just made sense that I take them. I didn't want to have to ask one of the parents to do it and Wayne, my student-teacher you know, he's been taking them over the weekends."

"I bet Wayne would love the have them over spring break too." Aubrey remarks.

Chloe continues with the puppy-dog look. "But Bree, look how cute they are." She takes Aubrey's hands and drags her over to where the ducks are collected. "Don't you want to get to know them? And spend time with them?"

Aubrey shakes her head. "Not really." She tells Chloe frankly. "I don't think we need seven ducks in our apartment for a week. They're dirty."

"They're not that dirty." Chloe assures her. "We'll put them in water all the time and they'll stay clean." She gives Aubrey a kiss on the cheek. "It'll be great. And you never had a pet growing up…"

With a sigh, Aubrey rolls her eyes. "Fine. But they're your ducks. And I think they should stay in there so they don't make a mess." She thinks that's a perfectly reasonable request.

But, of course, Chloe doesn't think so. "They can't stay cooped up in there for nine days!" She protests. "They'll be fine. They won't make a mess, you'll see." She says decisively. "You'll love them."

Aubrey makes a doubtful noise, which Chloe ignores. "Okay, let me introduce you." She reaches into the crate and picks up one of the ducklings. "This one is Charlie." She tries to pass the fluffy yellow duckling to Aubrey but she keeps her hands at her side.

Chloe doesn't fight Aubrey. Instead, she just puts the duckling back and picks up another one. "And this one is Wayne." Aubrey smirks and Chloe rolls her eyes. "The kids really wanted to name one after him and I let them vote so…" She shrugs.

A brown and yellow duckling has been christened Batman ("I told you I let them pick the names!"); a puffball of yellow is aptly named Fluffy; another nearly all brown one has been named after the school's Principal Figgins and a duckling with a brown stripe down its face has been dubbed simply Duck.

Aubrey points to the last duck in the corner of the tub, one that Chloe has yet to introduce her to. "That one doesn't get a name?" She arches an eyebrow.

Chloe picks up the duckling and purses her lips. "Well…don't be mad…" Aubrey rolls her eyes because she can already see where this is going. "I got to pick a name that I liked too, so I named this one Aubrey."

Once again, Aubrey rolls her eyes. "You named a duck after me." She remarks. "That's ridiculous Chloe."

"It was really fitting." Chloe assures her. "She reminds me of you in college." Aubrey arches an eyebrow. "Well…she doesn't really like anyone else…she's really standoffish and she doesn't let the kids hold or pet her."

Aubrey isn't exactly sure how she's supposed to take that comparison. "You're holding her." She points out.

And Chloe just grins at her and Aubrey doesn't know why her heart flips at this.

Chloe tries to hand the duckling to Aubrey but she still refuses to hold it. "But this is your duck, Bree." The redhead protests.

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "No it's not. It's just a duck you named after me. For some weird reason." She gestures toward the crate. "Just put her back. Don't ducks have diseases?"

Now it's Chloe's turn to roll her eyes. "You worry too much." She informs Aubrey as she puts the duckling back into the plastic tub. "Can't you just appreciate how adorable they are?"

"I've appreciated it." Aubrey assures her. "Now can we go out to dinner? I'm starving."

Chloe doesn't turn down the invitation, though she does fret about the ducklings during their walk to her favorite sushi place. "You leave them alone at school over night." Aubrey points out. "They'll be fine for a few hours." At least, they better be. They better stay in that plastic crate and not find a way to get out and wreck the entire apartment.

But the ducks are still in their crate when they get home, waddling around and cheeping and fluffing their downy feathers and just doing what ducklings do. Aubrey goes into the bathroom to shower off and get ready for a lazy night and when she comes back into the living room, the ducklings are out of their crate and toddling around. Chloe is sitting on the floor, laughing as she watches the ducks exploring the apartment. One of them is wedged under the couch and trying to figure out a way to free itself while one ducklings (Wayne, Aubrey thinks) has somehow managed to get into the potted plant and it rooting around. The other ones are on the move, waddling around the living room and toward the kitchen, quacking all the while.

"Chloe," Aubrey says from her spot behind her girlfriend, "what's going on?"

Chloe looks over her shoulder and gives Aubrey an innocent smile. "They're exploring."

Aubrey frowns slightly. "I thought they were going to stay in the box."

"I don't think I ever said that…" Chloe purses her lips thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin. "No…don't think I agreed to that…" Aubrey just rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath. "Come on Bree, you'll like them. They're cute."

"That one is going to suffocate." Aubrey points to the one still underneath the couch and Chloe quickly tugs him free. Aubrey smirks. "How are you going to keep track of all of them?"

"With your help, of course." Chloe informs her. She pats the floor beside her and with yet another eye roll, Aubrey comes to sit down next to her. "You'll see, it's going to be lots of fun."

Aubrey scoffs and watches as Wayne flings dirt out of the potted plant. "Fun." She mumbles skeptically.

Chloe puts a hand on her knee. "It's only a week." She says. "And I'm sorry, I should have asked before I brought them home. I shouldn't have just sprung them on you."

Aubrey can hear the sincerity in Chloe's tone and see it in her eyes and it almost makes her feel bad. Because yeah, the ducklings are unexpected and yeah, they're probably going to be a pain but they're something that her girlfriend is excited about so she can at least try and be a little bit excited too.

Aubrey kisses Chloe. "It's okay. It won't be so bad."

* * *

Aubrey soon takes the sentiment back. Because the ducklings are noisy and they cheep and quack all night long, waddling around in their crate and kicking around the sawdust. Aubrey has always been a light sleeper and she hates the fact that something as small as ducklings quacking in another room can keep her tossing and turning all night. Of course Chloe seems to have no problem sleeping through the late night noises and Aubrey really envies her girlfriend right around four in the morning.

By the time Aubrey gets up to start her normal morning routine (Saturday isn't an excuse for laziness), the ducklings have all gone to sleep, nestling together in the middle of the tub. Aubrey rolls her eyes at them as she passes by, even though she knows it's ridiculous because they're ducks and they hardly care about the fact that they kept her up most of the night. She feels more awake as she jogs to the gym a few blocks away and enjoys her Saturday morning yoga class. She's never been particularly good at the mediation part but the class has been a stable of her routine for the past few years so why bother changing it now?

When Aubrey returns home, she finds Chloe in the kitchen making French toast for breakfast and she walks over to give her girlfriend a kiss. Chloe wrinkles her nose at Aubrey's sweaty appearance but goes in for the kiss anyway. As though she would ever refuse.

"That smells amazing." Aubrey tells Chloe, tilting her chin toward the stack of already cooked French toast. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then we can eat together if you want?"

Chloe's expression turns slightly guilty. "Well, Bree-"

But Aubrey has already turned away and is heading toward the bedroom. When she gets into the bathroom, she finds a sight she most definitely did not expect. The bathtub full of water with seven ducklings swimming around as happy as can be. They're ducking their heads into the water, shaking water droplets off their feathers and chasing each other around the tub.

"That's what I was trying to tell you." Chloe remarks from the doorway and Aubrey turns to face her girlfriend. "There are ducks in the tub."

Aubrey raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, I see that." She looks back at the ducklings, who seem to be having a lot more fun than Aubrey currently is. "Can we put them back where they belong now?"

Chloe starts to protest but then sees the look on Aubrey's face and quickly changes her mind. They gather up the ducklings and quickly transfer them back to their crate. The Aubrey-duck squawks the loudest when they take her out of the water and Chloe just smirks at Aubrey but wisely says nothing.

* * *

The rest of the weekend is business as usual. Or rather, business as usual for seven feathery additions. But Aubrey figures that it could be worse. Chloe could have brought home a puppy, which would require constant attention and which she would never be able to get rid of. Or it could be a cat, with its litter box and shedding. At least the ducks were relatively clean and Aubrey eventually gets used to their constant cheeping and the fact that Chloe insists on taking them out of their crate and letting them wander around the apartment.

Aubrey regrets that she doesn't have a week long holiday from her job because on Monday, it's nearly impossible to untangle herself from Chloe and force herself to get ready. It's easier when they both have to get up and get ready for their respective jobs but having to leave her sleeping girlfriend is something that Aubrey really hates. She tries to save as much of her vacation and work-from-home time for the summer, when Chloe is home for months. So Aubrey has to be a big girl and go to work.

Aubrey spends the majority of her day in meetings, texting Chloe under the table while trying to look like she's attentively listening to everything her colleagues are saying. Over the years, she's gotten pretty good at keeping a poker face regardless of the nature of the text messages that they're exchanging. Today she mostly gets updates on Chloe's attempts to train the ducklings to follow her around in an orderly line and treat her like the mother duck. Aubrey can't help but roll her eyes slightly at the mental image she gets of Chloe walking around the apartment complex with seven ducks following along behind her.

When Aubrey gets home that evening, the first thing she notices is the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen. The second thing is that there are seven ducklings waddling across the dining room table. One of the ducklings, Batman or possibly Duck, is chewing on the flowers at the center of the table, pulling off the petals and scattering them everywhere. The other ducklings are walking from one end to the other, their webbed feet making pitter-patter noises as they waddle.

"Okay, before you say anything," Chloe slips her arms around Aubrey's waist before Aubrey even realizes that she's there, "listen to the sound their little feet make. Isn't it cute!"

Aubrey had never really given much thought to what a duckling's feet would sound like as it walked across a table, but yeah, she supposes, it's pretty cute. Just like Chloe.

The look on Aubrey's face must betray the fact that she's not going to get angry because Chloe's slightly guilty look disappears and she gives her girlfriend a kiss. "How was your day?" Chloe questions when the kiss is finally broken.

"It was pretty uneventful until I came home to find seven ducks on my kitchen table." Aubrey remarks.

Chloe gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Well, at least I always keep things interesting." She remarks as she walks back toward the kitchen to check on the lasagna in the oven.

Aubrey laughs softly because she's pretty sure that no truer statement has ever been said. She goes to follow after Chloe but hesitates, turning to watch the ducks again. "I'm just not sure they should be on the table." She remarks. "What if they fall?"

"I think they would know better than to walk off the edge." Chloe remarks.

Pretty much as soon as the words leave her mouth, one of the ducklings goes toddling right off the edge. Aubrey lunges forward to catch it before it can hit the ground, relieved that the little ball of feathers seems to be no worse for wear. The duckling just looks at her, peeps and makes itself comfortable in the palms of Aubrey's hands.

"Fast hands, Posen." Chloe remarks, a smirk on her face. "You saved her life."

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "That's probably an exaggeration." She points out.

"That's Aubrey." Chloe points to the duckling still nestled in her girlfriend's hands. That smirk remains in place. "And she doesn't even let me hold her for that long."

Aubrey just shakes her head. "What are you saying? That we somehow have a deep connection because you named her after me." Another eye roll. "Don't be ridiculous."

Chloe shrugs. "I'm just saying." She remarks. "I've never seen her act like that before. She doesn't really like being held. She doesn't even like people."

Chloe's words seem pretty far from the truth at the moment, because Aubrey-duck has laid down in Aubrey's hands, tucking her feet underneath her body and resting her head across her back. It's pretty adorable, even Aubrey has to admit that. She tries to set the duckling back down on the table but she cheeps in annoyance before making herself comfortable again.

"Chloe, I don't think she wants me to put her down." Aubrey glances over toward her girlfriend. "What should I do?"

Chloe arches an eyebrow, doing a poor job of hiding her amusement. "You can just put her down." She points out. "She'll get over it."

But Aubrey seems to think better of that idea and just continues holding the duckling. Aubrey-duck is small enough to fit into the palm of her hand, so it's not like it's a huge inconvenience. Aside from, of course, the sheer ridiculousness of carrying around a duckling.

Chloe honestly thinks that Aubrey is going to get tired of the duckling pretty quickly and deposit her back with the rest of the flock. So she's surprised when she happens to glance over at where Aubrey is going through their bills and finds that Aubrey is sorting through the papers with one hand while Aubrey-duck continues to snooze in the other. Chloe purses her lips to keep from smiling too wide; commenting on this moment will only ruin it.

Chloe's surprise only continues to grow when they sit down for dinner and Aubrey-duck moves from Aubrey's hand to Aubrey's lap. The same duckling that Chloe has seen bite and hiss at her students seems perfectly content sitting on Aubrey's lap.

"Looks like you made a new friend." Chloe can't stop herself from commenting anymore. It's just way too cute.

Aubrey shakes her head. "I just didn't want to disturb her. I'll put her back after dinner." She says flippantly.

But Aubrey quickly masters the ability to do dishes with one hand.

Later, when Chloe takes the other ducklings out of the crate so they can stretch their legs, Aubrey tries to put the duckling down so she can join the rest of her family. But as soon as Aubrey shifts her position, Aubrey-duck starts quacking like she's suffering some sort of physical harm, flapping her stubby little wings and acting like she can think of nothing worse than being separated from Aubrey at the moment. Chloe just laughs at Aubrey's brief look of panic and the one of grudging acceptance.

"Now you're spoiling her." Chloe remarks, stroking Figgins' downy back with her finger. "She's never going to want to be put down. She's going to think you're her mom."

Aubrey shrugs. "I'm sure she's already imprinted on you and your class." She points out. "She barely knows me."

The sight of Aubrey and Aubrey-duck on the couch together, both seemingly engrossed in a re-run of _Grey's Anatomy_, is almost too much for Chloe. Instead of complaining about perceived medical inaccuracies and bemoaning the idiocy of the on-again-off-again couples like she usually does, Aubrey just cuddles the duckling and rests with her head against Chloe's shoulder. All the other ducklings are continuing their exploration of the apartment but Aubrey-duck seems perfectly content to stay cuddled up on Aubrey's chest.

Aubrey draws the line at letting the duck sleep in the bed with them. She says it's because they don't need a bird all over their sheets but Chloe has her suspicions that Aubrey is more worried about one of them crushing the duckling during the night. Aubrey-duck quacks her protests at being back in the crate with the rest of the flock but Aubrey stands her ground and keeps their room a duck free zone.

In the morning, Aubrey lets the little duckling keep her company in the kitchen while she makes coffee and breakfast. Aubrey-duck is always underfoot, fluttering her short wings and walking across Aubrey's feet as she tries to stay close to the blonde. The duckling doesn't seem happy about being returned to the tub but Aubrey highly doubts that her bosses will understand why she has a duck in her office.

Before lunch, Chloe sends Aubrey a picture of Aubrey-duck sitting by herself on the floor. _She misses her mom!_ Is the caption that Chloe has added to the picture. _And I miss you too ;) _Chloe adds a few seconds later and Aubrey really hates being stuck in the office when her girlfriend is at home. Being an adult sucks sometimes.

That evening passes much like the one before it: Aubrey-duck refuses to be put down once Aubrey picks her up and the blonde rolls her eyes and feigns annoyance but Chloe can see right through it.

The following morning, Aubrey wakes forty-five minutes before her alarm and doesn't see any reason to try and get back to sleep considering that she'll never be able to drift off before she has to get ready for work. She looks over at Chloe, who is still lost in dreamland, and can't bring herself to wake up her girlfriend, even though she wouldn't mind the company. But Chloe just looks so…exactly how she always looks. Cute and sexy and beautiful all at the same time.

So Aubrey decides to indulge in a shower longer than the one she usually treats herself to in the mornings and maybe she'll even make breakfast for Chloe to have when she wakes up. Aubrey goes into the bathroom to start the shower and brush her teeth. As she rinses her toothpaste out of the sink, she's seized by a thought that she would never indulge in if Chloe was awake. But if no one knows…

Aubrey goes into the living room and carefully collects the ducklings, cradling them in her arms and carrying them back to the bathroom. She fills up the sink and puts in the fluff balls, who immediately start quacking their excitement at having found themselves in water. The sink is hardly a pond but it's clear to Aubrey that the ducks aren't exactly choosy.

However, Aubrey-duck seems to have different ideas. Aubrey gets into the shower and pulls the curtain closed with one last glance toward the sink, just to confirm that all the ducklings are happily splashing around and content in their makeshift pond. But she's barely got her hair wet before the shower curtain starts rustling and Aubrey hears a familiar cheeping.

Aubrey pushes back the shower curtain to revel Aubrey-duck standing by the shower, no doubt trying to figure out how to get up the edge of the tub and into the shower itself. Aubrey rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "How did you even get out of the sink?" She mumbles, quickly stepping out of the shower and depositing the duckling back into the sink with the rest of her siblings.

The second time Aubrey notices the shower curtain rustling, she's at least made it to the shampooing stage. When she pulls back the curtain again, Aubrey-duck looks so happy to see her that she quacks and falls backward, her wings flapping in an attempt to regain her balance. After that, Aubrey simply can't just put her back in the sink. She still has no idea how the duckling is even managing to get out and how she hasn't killed herself yet.

So, against her better judgment, Aubrey picks up the duckling and deposits her on the floor of the shower. She adjusts the water temperature because she's worried that her preferred temperature (which Chloe not so nicely calls fires of hell hot and which Aubrey considers to be an exaggeration) will be too much for the little duck. But Aubrey-duck doesn't seem to have any complaints at all. She's waddling around, quacking happily and fluffing her feathers and standing under the spray and looking happy as a clam. Which is an expression Aubrey has never really understood before.

Aubrey can't help but laugh as she watches the duckling hop around and enjoy the water. Aubrey-duck perches on the top of Aubrey's foot and looks happy as can be. The duckling looks almost disappointed when the shower comes to an end, cocking her head and looking at the blonde expectantly. But they can't spend all morning hanging around the shower; some of them have to work after all.

Aubrey wraps herself in a towel and carries Aubrey-duck back into the bedroom. The other ducklings are still happily bobbing around in the sink, not having been seized by the same wanderlust that brought their sibling to the shower. Aubrey sits down on the edge of the bed, glancing over at Chloe, who is still sleeping soundly. When Aubrey-duck starts quacking, Aubrey shushes her and then feels like an idiot because the duck can't exactly understand what she's trying to say. But she doesn't want the noise to wake up Chloe.

So she puts Aubrey-duck in her lap and uses the edge of the towel to start drying off her feathers. This seems to make the duckling happy because she quiets down and fluffs up her feathers. Aubrey rolls her eyes, mostly at herself because she's sitting here when she should be getting ready for work, drying off a duckling. That she just let into the shower with her. What is happening to her?

Chloe has been unable to drift back to sleep since she heard the shower start, kept awake by the thought that she might be able to convince her girlfriend to be a little late for work today. She's pretty sure that she's going to make the suggestion into an offer that Aubrey can't refuse.

But what Chloe doesn't expect is for Aubrey to come walking out of the bathroom carrying one of the ducklings with her. She also doesn't expect the blonde to start talking to Aubrey-duck under her breath and drying off the duckling with the edge of her towel, cooing to the bird the entire time. Chloe presses her face against her pillow to suppress the undignified noise that she really wants to make in this moment. Who is this person and what has she done with her uptight and rule following girlfriend? Not that Chloe is complaining in the least.

Chloe watches Aubrey out of her half-closed eyes as her girlfriend takes all of the ducklings (including Aubrey-duck) back to their crate in the living room and then returns to the bedroom to go about her morning routine. She feels her mouth go dry as she watches Aubrey slip on her pencil skirt and button-up blouse and tries to remember why she let herself get distracted from her previous plan by a couple of ducklings.

Aubrey nearly jumps out of her skin when she sits down on the edge of the bed to pull on her heels and Chloe slips her arms around her shoulders. "Oh my God," Aubrey breathes, pressing a hand to her heart, "I think you gave me a heart attack. I thought you were asleep."

Chloe kisses the side of Aubrey's neck and the spot under her ear that always makes her shiver. "Sorry." She whispers in a way that suggests that she's not really sorry at all.

Aubrey feels herself relaxing into Chloe's touch despite her best efforts to pull away. Why does she want to do that again? Or, right. Something about work… Aubrey opens her eyes and swallows, moving away form Chloe slightly. "Chlo," she hopes that the redhead doesn't notice the slight whine in her tone, "I have to go to work, remember?"

Chloe pouts. "Can't you be a little late? You're never late."

"Yeah," Aubrey agrees, "and I should probably-" But her protests are silenced when Chloe grabs the lapels of her shirt and pulls her in for a kiss. One that definitely promises that being late to work will be worth Aubrey's while.

Aubrey pulls away, intending to protest once again, but she forgets her words when Chloe's hand slips up the bottom of her skirt. Needless to say, her perfect attendance record is broken that morning.

* * *

By the time Aubrey gets home that afternoon, all she wants is to wrap her arms around Chloe and do their best to end the day the way started it. But when she gets back to the apartment, the only thing there to greet her is a note on the counter informing her that Chloe is down at the apartment complex's pool and Aubrey should meet her there. Aubrey doesn't bother to change out of her work clothes in hopes that that will make it easier to convince Chloe to come back to the apartment.

What Aubrey does not expect is to go down to the pool and find Chloe there with all seven of the fuzzy ducklings. She hadn't even noticed that they weren't making their usual racket in the apartment and she can't say that she's really surprised to find that her girlfriend has taken a flock of ducks to the pool. Aubrey is willing to bet that the management would not be very happy to see this but the few people still hanging around the pool definitely seem to be amused.

Chloe grins when she sees her, waving to her girlfriend like it's been days since they've last seen each other. Aubrey just rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the scene in front of her. Chloe is clearly the stand-in mother duck because all of the ducklings are arranged in a perfect line behind her, swimming along contentedly and ducking their heads under the water. Aubrey would be more concerned if they didn't have a fresh water pool.

Chloe's perfect line of ducklings falls apart when Aubrey-duck sees Aubrey the human and starts quacking, swimming away from her siblings and toward the edge of the pool where Aubrey is standing.

"Oh, I see how it is." Chloe says with a faux-offended expression. "I'm just second best to you."

Aubrey-duck tries to scrabble up the side of the pool, cheeping frantically until Aubrey kneels down and pulls her out of the water. "Well, I guess someone missed me today."

Chloe pulls herself out of the pool and nods. "Yeah, she was the only one who missed or thought about you all day. Only one." She sticks her tongue out at Aubrey.

As they walk back to their apartment, six ducklings follow behind Chloe in a perfect row, stopping occasionally to nibble bugs or blades of grass. The seventh duckling follows dutifully at Aubrey's heels, seeming oblivious to the fact that she was in a flock all by herself.

* * *

Aubrey is relieved when it's the weekend again because that's two days that she doesn't have to suffer through meetings and paperwork when she'd rather be at home, doing nothing with Chloe. However, as much as she loves her girlfriend, even Aubrey has her limits. And one of those limits involves joining Chloe and her mother as they go wedding dress shopping for Chloe's older sister. She loves the Beales, of course she does. They're more like family to her than her own parents. But she can only take so much of the Beale women at one time and anything involving shopping is just too stressful.

So Chloe heads out Saturday morning, promising to be gone for no more than a few hours and Aubrey makes herself comfortable on the couch with Aubrey-duck and some of the paperwork that she needs to check up on for work. However, her intentions to actually get work done are soon pushed aside in favor of one of the cable channels showing _The Notebook_. Aubrey might not be much of a movie person, but she considers it against some sort of law not to watch _The Notebook_ when it comes on TV. So she puts aside her paperwork and myself herself comfortable on the couch. And Aubrey-duck does the same, making herself comfortable on Aubrey's stomach.

When Chloe comes home several hours later, that's how she finds them. Both have fallen asleep (though Aubrey will later deny that this is the case) and Chloe quickly pulls her phone out of her pocket and takes a picture of her girlfriend and her new best friend. She knows that Aubrey will deny having any real connection to the duckling, in spite of the week that has proved otherwise, so photographic evidence can't hurt Chloe's argument that she actually liked having the ducklings around.

Chloe knows this is definitely the case on Sunday when Aubrey seems to be a little down, though she denies this several times before finally admitting to Chloe that she's going to miss having the ducklings around.

"Aw, Bree," Chloe kisses her on the cheek, "I knew that you would like them."

"They're all right." Aubrey admits with a sigh. "It's just going to be weird not having them around. They're kinda sweet."

Chloe nods. "Yeah, I'm going to miss having them around too." She assures her girlfriend. "They're going back to the farm at the end of the week so they can assimilate duck behaviors."

Aubrey makes a face, stroking Aubrey-duck's feathery back. "Oh, that's right." She mutters. "I forgot they were going back to the farm."

Chloe slips an arm around Aubrey's waist and rests her head against her girlfriend's shoulder. "I'm sorry Bree." She says sincerely. "We should get a pet duck."

Aubrey scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Oh, no. That is not necessary." She assures the redhead. "So don't get any ideas." She taps Chloe on the nose.

Chloe sticks out her tongue. "You're not fun." She teases. "We could move to a farm. And then we could have lots of ducks."

Aubrey arches an eyebrow. "I thought you liked living in the city."

Chloe shrugs. "I do. I don't think I'd really want to live in a farm. But it would be fun. To have ducks and horses and other farm-type animals."

"It would be a lot of work." Aubrey points out. "To have horses and all that."

"Well, then maybe we would just have ducks." Chloe decides. "And we could lend them to elementary school classrooms and it could be just you and me and our ducks. And a dog."

Aubrey smiles and rolls her eyes. "You're ridiculous." She informs Chloe frankly. But not all of Chloe's idea sounded horrible. She definitely liked the _just you and me_ part.

* * *

Monday they're back to getting ready together, making coffee and breakfast for two and sharing the bathroom mirror and preparing to start their respective days. Chloe puts the ducklings into their crate and Aubrey-duck voices her complaints during the entire drive to the school. She also bites three kids and two of the other ducklings and hides underneath a plastic castle in the duck habitat in the corner of the room and refuses to come out for most of the day. Except for when she's biting various people and ducks. Chloe can't help but shake her head at the shenanigans. Yep, a lot like a certain blonde that she knows. Only with a lot more biting.

Aubrey asks about the ducks that evening when they're having dinner and seems amused by the antics that her particular duckling got into through the day. But for the rest of the week, she doesn't bring up the ducklings and Chloe can tell that Aubrey is trying to hide the fact that she's actually missing having the little quackers around. Especially Aubrey-duck.

Friday, Chloe takes her class on a field trip to the farm where the ducklings came from and they spend the day learning about the rural lifestyle and feeding goats and chickens and learning about milking cows and taking care of horses. And then they let their ducklings join the rest of the flock on the farm and Chloe can tell that she's not the only one who's sad to see them go.

That night, Aubrey and Chloe go out for dinner because neither feel like cooking or ordering takeout and while they wait for their food to come, Chloe tells Aubrey about the trip to the farm and how the ducks seemed excited to join the rest of the flock for the first time.

Aubrey smiles slightly and nods. "Sounds like a successful experiment, Miss Beale." She compliments.

Chloe grins at her. "Well, I should say, that all the ducks seemed to enjoy being on the farm except for one. You know that pond we have near the front of the school? Well Principal Figgins said that we should keep one of the ducks to live in the pond. Since our school mascot is a duck and everything. He thought it would be a cute gimmick." She shrugs.

Aubrey arches an eyebrow. "Really? A mascot?" She has the feeling that she knows where Chloe is going with this, but she doesn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Yep." Chloe says with a nod. "So now….we can go visit Aubrey-duck anytime we want to. I thought it might be nice to take a picnic there some weekends, because it's really nice even though it's just in front of the school."

Aubrey nods and smiles. "Yeah, I think that would be nice." She tells her girlfriend. "Thanks, Chlo."

"For what?" Chloe questions innocently. "It was Figgins."

"Right." Aubrey rolls her eyes. "He came up with the idea all by himself." She says doubtfully.

Chloe just shrugs, keeping that innocent look on her face. "Maybe someone nudged him in the right direction. I have been known to have good ideas from time to time, you know."

Aubrey makes a doubtful face. "Eh….sometimes…"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Hey! I think the ducks were a pretty good idea." She defends. "I think _you_ liked them more than the kids."

Aubrey purses her lips in thought. "Hmm…I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Oh, so I guess we don't have to go visit Aubrey-duck then." Chloe remarks with a shrug. "Good to know."

"Well, I didn't say that…" Aubrey admits grudgingly.

Chloe beams at her, looking satisfied. "So I guess I _do_ have good ideas after all." She remarks.

Aubrey just rolls her eyes. Yeah, Chloe's ideas aren't half bad. But that doesn't mean she has to admit it.

**end.**


End file.
